Delicate onion flavor is delicious in eggs, cream sauces, fish, chicken, beef, lamb, salads and vegetable dishes. Try finely chopped in scrambled eggs, in cottage cheese, or in dips made with cream cheese, sour cream or yogurt.

Chives are one of the "fines herbes" of French cuisine, which also include tarragon, chervil and/or parsley.

Farmers would plant chives between the rocks making up the borders of their flowerbeds, to keep the plants free from pests (such as Japanese beetles. While the growing plant repels unwanted insect life, the juice of the leaves can be used for the same purpose, as well as fighting fungal infections, mildew and scab.

Its flowers are attractive to bees, which are important for gardens with an abundance of plants in need of pollination.